On Saturday 4 February, CFA firefighters evacuated residents in Melbourne’s northwest as an out-of-control grassfire threatened homes.
Crews were called to the fire in Diggers Rest at 11.30am and the fire took approximately 30 trucks and water bombing aircraft more than 7 hours to control.
CFA Crews with the assistance of MFB and FFMVic worked hard to get the blaze under control by 6.25pm.
CFA State Duty Officer Jamie Hansen said there was a northerly, blustery wind and conditions were quite erratic.
“Challenging weather coupled with the inaccessible terrain made it very difficult to get on top of the fire,” he said.
The grassfire, which was started by an unmaintained ride-on mower, burned through approximately 110 hectares damaging one home and threatening many others.
“Even if your equipment was cleaned less than a year ago, it doesn’t mean it’s still good to go,” said Jamie.
“Without proper attention to maintenance there is a very good chance that things will go wrong.
“People should be familiarising themselves with CFA’s Can I or Can’t I guidelineswhich should give you a good indication of what you can and can’t do on high risk days.”
Ambulance Victoria also attended the incident to monitor the health of firefighters.
Mr Hanson said there was a significant amount of work done overnight and while they had milder conditions it was still quite hot and many members were effected by heat.
Many CFA brigades pulled together to control the fire including crews from Bolinda, Bulla, Caroline Springs, Clarkefield, Craigieburn, Diamond Creek, Diggers Rest, Doreen, Epping, Gisborne, Greenvale, Kal Kallo, Melton, Mernda, Mt Cottrell Group, Nillumbik Group, Pentland Group, Rockbank, Sunbury, Toolern Vale, Truganina and Wildwood.
Author: CFA Media